Tile.



G. G. BLAKE.

. PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP 1111.24, 1913. 1,093,761. Patented Apr. 21, 1914.

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G. G. BLAKE.

TILE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 24, 1913.

Patented Apr. 21, 1914 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR.

A TTORNEYJ.

UNITED STA'IEZATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES G. BLAKE, OF PITTS BURGI-I, PENNSYLVANIA.

Application filed March 24, 1913.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES G. BLAKE, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at the city of Pittsburgh, county of Allegheny, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tiles, of which the following is a specification.

The subject of this invention is a roofing tile of the type which is usually constructed of reinforced concrete or Portland cement and made of sufficient size and otherwise adapted to be placed directly upon the purlins.

The tiles of the kind referred to are placed directly on the purlins and are preferably provided with bottom hooks or ribs at their upper ends to engage the purlins, and with bottom hooks or ribs at their lower ends to take over the top edges of the tiles next be low and with top ribs or flanges to be engaged by the bottom hooks at the lower ends of the tiles next above. The tiles are also provided with interlocking means at their lateral edges which is preferably in the form of an edge rib or flange on one side to be engaged by an edge roll on the adjacent side of the next tile or the adjacent edges may be covered by a removable cap or roll separate from both tiles. Aside from the ribs described, the top and bottom faces of the tiles are preferably flat in the plane of their length except for the rolls and rabbets as shown.

In operation the depending rib or hook at the upper end engages the purlins and pre vents sliding of the tiles down the roof, and the depending rib at the lower end of each tile rests on the fiat top face of the tile next below just beyond the upright rib at the upper end of that tile. Between the interlocking ribs, 6., between the upright rib at the upper end of the one tile and the depending rib at the lower end of the tile next above, the joint is preferably filled with some suitable sealer, such as elastic cement. The lateral meeting edges of the tiles referred to are provided with suitable locking means. In the preferred form this consists of a rib on one side of each section and a roll on the other side, so that when they are placed together, the roll or hook of each section takes over and engages the rib on the adjacent side of the next section and the joint between the rib and roll ofeach section is preferably filled with some suitable sealer,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 21, 1914. Serial No. 756,340.

such as elastic cement. As thus constructed and applied, the tile structure on the roof is 1n a sense elastic and flexible, that is, the tiles are free and not rigidly connected. and each tile has lost motion, for it may slide up and down over the one next below, and the contour of the roof may be varied to any degree as by the settling of the building, contraction or expansion of the structure, etc, without any tendency to crack the tiles. In addition to this it is not necessary that the purlins be spaced with extreme accuracy, as it is not important that the lap should be uniform, and the tiles may be laid on a roof which is substantially fiat, having as little as one half inch slope to the foot, and no leakage will result at the overlapped edges, as the arrangement of interlocking ribs described makes it impossible for water to enter by capillary attraction or gravity, and the water, if it once enters the crack, offers sufficient head to prevent its being forced over the top of the flanges by wind pressure.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a series of tiles constructed and applied to a root in accordance with my in vention.

Figure 1 is a fragmentary, vertical, central, longitudinal section illustrating the joint between the top end of one tile and the bottom end of the tile next above. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of a tile, the. central portion being broken away for the purpose of illustration. Fig. 3 is a vertical crosssection of a portion of the roof, the section being at right angles to the purlins and showing the application to the roof of tiles constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 4 is a transverse cross-section on the line 4., at, Fig. 1, through a series of tiles shown in operative position. The direction of the view is indicated by the arrow. Fig. 5 is a perspective of the tiles combined as used. Fig. 6 is a similar view of another type of tile. Fig. 7 is a transverse crosssection through one course of tiles showingthe next course above in elevation. Fig. 8 is a similar view showing a. different type of tile.

Referring to the drawings by numerals,

each of which is used to indicate the same or correspoi'iding parts in all. the difierent figures, the tiles 1 are provided each at its upper end with a depending hook or rib 2 extending below the lower flat face 3 and an upright rib at extending upward from the upper fiat face 5, and at its lower end each tile is provided with a depending hook or rib 6 extending downward from the bottom flat face 3 of the tile. All the ribs and hooks 2, at, 6 extend fully across the tiles except as hereinafter specified.

The tiles as shown are provided each with an edge rib 7 on one edge and a hook or roll 8 on the opposite edge. Vhen the tiles are in position the rib on one tile cooperates with the hook on the next, and the edges interlock as shown in Figs. l and 7, the hook or roll 8 forming an edge roll. The edge ribs 7 and the bottom rib 6 of each tile are cut at the lower ends of the latter at 7, see Figs. 4 and 5, and the tile is notched at 7 to admit the end of the lower depending rib 6 at the adjacent edge of the next tile and on the hook side of that tile, this rib being extended beyond the horizontal edge 8 of the tile so that the end portion 6 of rib 6 forms in effect a flange at the lower end of the hook 8, and this flange covers the lower end of the edge rib 7 on the next tile and closes the lower end of the crack or joint 8 between the tiles. To accommodate the roll, each tile is provided with a central ridge 9 beneath which is a groove 10 to receive the edge hook or roll 8 of the tiles next below and the ribs 4: thereon and the transverse ribs at the upper and lower edges are made continuous through and over the longitudinal rolls and grooves. The joints of the tiles are preferably filled with some suitable elastic sealer such as elastic cement and are staggered in a manner which is easily apparent, and all tiles are provided with metal reinforcement 20. The interlocking edges may be covered by means of a cap 15 of the same form as the roll 8 engaging the ribbed edges 7 of each tile as shown in Figs. 6 and 8. In either case there is a rib or roll overlying the meeting edges of the tiles, and the roll has a flange 14 at its lower end which enters a notch or notches 7 in the lower corners of the tiles, the flange serving to close the lower end of the joint or crack between the tiles.

In operation the depending hooks 2 engage the purlins 11, the tiles being laid after the order of shingles, i. 0., the bottom row first, the tiles of the row next above being laid on the roof with'their hooks or depending ribs 2 at the upper end engaging the purlins and their bottom ribs or hooks 6 at the lower'end resting on the top faces of the tiles of the row next below at a point just beyond or below the top rib 4 as shown in Fig. 1. Before laying each tile, a quantity of elastic cement is smeared on the lower side of the upright rib 4 at the top of the tile next below, and also if desired, similar cement is applied to the depending hook (3. Thus, if a. sufiicient quantity of cement is used, when the tiles are in place, a squeeze joint is formed between the ribs, the lower tile drawing downward and pressing its top rib against the cement held by the bottom rib 6 at the lower end of the tile next above.

It will be apparent that when the roof is thus laid with the tiles constructed as described, various changes of contour of the general structure may take place without in any way injuring the tiles, as they are flexible in their relation with each other, and the joints l2 permit of a considerable expansion or contraction or sliding of the tiles up and down one over the other. Also it is not necessary, as in the case of a good many other similar tiles previously patented, to place the purlins with exactness, as it is immaterial whether or not there is a considerable variation in lap. Also the tiles may be laid substantially flat without danger of leaks, as it is exceedingly difiicult, and in fact impossible, to force water by wind pressure, gravity or capillarity beneath the ribs 6 and over the rib l, the path which it must take to enter between the tiles at their overlapping top and bottom edges.

I have thus described specifically two embodiments of my invention in order that its nature and operation may be clearly un derstood. However, the specific terms herein are used in their descriptive rather than in their limiting sense and the scope of the invention is defined in the claim.

I claim- In combination, roof purlins, reinforced concrete roofing slabs adapted to rest on the purlins, each slab having an upright rib extending across the upper edge, a depending rib at this point and a depending rib extending across the lower edge, the undersurface of the tile adjacent to this riband the upper surface adjacent the upright rib being substantially fiat, the depending rib at the top being hooked over the purlins of the roof and the depending rib at the bottom edge resting on the flat surface beyond the upright rib of the tile next below over which it is hooked, the flat. surfaces of the tiles adjacent the ribs serving to permit them to slide one over the other, means for joining the adjacent lateral edges of the tiles and an elastic cement in the space between the overlapping ribs.

Signed by me at Cleveland, Ohio, this 12th day of March, 1913.

CHARLES Gr. BLAKE.

Vitnesses S. E. S'rown, FRANK SAUNDERS- Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). G. 

